RCMP on the move, CFIA ostrich cull could happen any moment

Drea Humphrey is live on the ground as tensions rise at Universal Ostrich Farms, where 400 healthy birds could be destroyed despite farmers fighting to stop it.

Drea Humphrey
  |   September 21, 2025   |   News   |   5 Comments

I’m here at Universal Ostrich Farms, where things are escalating quickly.

Just moments ago, a familiar RCMP officer named Paul Britton visited the farm. From my conversation with the farmers, it seems he was here to do a visual check before what could be the final pre-cull briefing.

Katie, one of the farmers fighting to save these birds, told me she saw tears in his eyes as he left.

“He knows this is wrong,” Katie said. “He’s a family man — he knows what it means to destroy healthy animals like this.”

Not long after Paul’s visit, we received a tip that 15 to 20 RCMP vehicles were spotted about 45 minutes away in Lumby, heading in this direction. 

That has everyone here on edge, fearing the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) could arrive at any moment to begin culling the flock of 400 ostriches — birds that Katie insists are healthy, asymptomatic, and have been recovered from avian flu for nine months.

Why This Fight Matters

Universal Ostrich Farms has been battling the CFIA for years. The government claims these birds were exposed to avian flu in the past and must be destroyed. The farmers have been begging for proper testing, but the CFIA has refused.

Instead of waiting for the courts to rule, the CFIA appears to be moving ahead with its plan to kill the entire flock. Katie and her family are urgently appealing for due legal process, as their fight is currently before the Supreme Court of Canada.

“We just want our day in court,” Katie told me. “These ostriches aren’t just animals — they’re part of our family. Some are over 35 years old. They have names and personalities.”

The Disposal Company

Earlier today, Rebel News reported on the company allegedly contracted by the CFIA to dispose of the ostrich carcasses: Nucor Environmental Solutions.

Katie and her family are pleading with Nucor and its regional manager, Dwayne Foley, to back out of the deal.

“All they have to do is say no,” Katie said. “We’re asking them to take a stand and refuse to destroy healthy animals without testing.”

I have reached out to Nucor for comment — including by phone — but I haven’t heard back.

The farmers say they’ve also sent multiple pleas, but so far, there has been no response.

What’s Happening Right Now

As I write this, the farm is filling with supporters who’ve gathered to peacefully stand with Katie and her family. But with so many RCMP vehicles spotted nearby, there’s a very real fear that this standoff could escalate within minutes or hours.

I will be staying on the ground, documenting every moment and making sure the world knows exactly what’s happening here.

You can follow all of our updates and support this fight at SaveTheOstriches.com

Help Rebel News continue its reporting on the Ostrich massacre!

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For months, our team has been on the ground at Universal Ostrich Farms, documenting every step of this tragedy — from the first ominous signs of federal overreach to the night nearly a thousand shots rang out, leaving a field of hundreds of dead ostriches and a family shattered.

Our journalists confronted the RCMP, pressed CFIA officials, launched drones to reveal the truth, and refused to be intimidated or silenced.

But holding powerful institutions to account takes resources: travel, security, legal access, and the manpower of an around-the-clock reporting team.

If you believe in independent journalism that asks the tough questions the establishment won’t touch, please chip in to help us keep digging.

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Drea Humphrey

B.C. Bureau Chief

Based in British Columbia, Drea Humphrey reports on Western Canada for Rebel News. Drea’s reporting is not afraid to challenge political correctness, or ask the tough questions that mainstream media tends to avoid.

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COMMENTS

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  • Bruce Atchison
    commented 2025-09-22 18:23:11 -0400
    This is why provinces like Alberta need their own police force. Ottawa folks have no clue about the rest of the country and the needs of the people.
  • Peter Wrenshall
    commented 2025-09-22 18:14:47 -0400
    I would add that the broad aspects of reason and individual liberty I just mentioned do not for one iota overshadow the human tragedy of the fate of Universal Ostrich Farms as the Pasitneys, their life’s work and the animals they have come to love are about to be ground under the boot of a blind, cold, heartless arm of the state.
  • Peter Wrenshall
    commented 2025-09-22 18:02:12 -0400
    I sincerely hope that Rebel News succeeds in giving Canada an international black eye over this issue because maybe it will shake our top leadership out of its complacency. Unfortunately I am not optimistic. As it stands we are increasingly under the thumb of once-useful public agencies, like the CFIA, that have ossified into lumbering, bullying, hidebound bureaucracies.
  • Duane Pedersen
    commented 2025-09-22 16:11:19 -0400
    Duane from Fort Mcmurray Alberta I am a again so disgusted with this Federal Government do not cull these healthy birds at least have the decency to test them this is the family’s life Im convinced that the pharmaceutical companies are behind this as the eggs have a cure with in them and the pharmaceutical companies stand to loose billions of dollars in there vaccine garbage Again all this tells me its time for the west to separate from the criminals in the east
  • Greg Dunlop
    commented 2025-09-22 09:35:16 -0400
    Call, message Nucor Environmental https://www.nucorenv.ca/ Healthy ostriches are not “medical waste”.